Any of you guys been to Shanghai? Any good restaurants or places I should go to? I will be there for work. I have Sunday to do some site seeing if I'm not to crazy tired.
Main places to check out would be the newly renovated, 'The Bund.' Cheng Huang Miao or City God Temple and is the Expo still on? If so check that out too.
Shanghai is awesome. Easily one of the best cities I've been to. There are plenty of restaurants. Just remember, it's the most expensive and modern city in China, so expect big city prices at many places.
The expo ended last year, but I think the China exhibit stays open (at least that is what we were told). Pearl tower is kind of cool. They didn't have it open all the way to the top last October, but at least one of the levels has a glass floor.
Shanghai's best food. You can get them anywhere but Shanghai's known for the best. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiaolongbao
Check out the local cuisine, and I don't mean the kind thats 5 star, expansive, thats mainly aimed at big spenders and/or foreign tourists. The ones I'm talking about are the ones that the average local eats as part of their daily meals, like those ones in the alley ways, suburban mini eateries, or just the plain good old small restaurants catered for locals. In those ones you'll get to experience the same local authentic local Shanghainese cuisine that the common citizen has. I personally think that will get you closer to the grassroots of Shanghainese cuisine, but if you are the type thats after the environment and service of the upper-tier restaurants, then go for that too.
The only problem is that I don't speak Chinese at all so ordering can be difficult at some of the hole in the wall places unless they have english menus.
That would be a problem. There are Us expats communities there, you can maybe contact them by emailing marketpalce at NPR to find out how to contact them?
It shouldn't be a problem. They mostly have photos of the food on the menu and you can just point at it and most of the younger people there speak some basic english. Shanghai is easily my favorite city. It's so safe there, you can just walk around all day & night with no worries (as long as you don't get hit by a taxi). The roads/cars/taxis are crazy, so be careful there. If you are going to be there on a Wednesday, go to zapatas - it's ladies night and just a great place. It's like a tex/mex type place that turns into a nightclub after 10pm and girls dance on the bar and the atmosphere is great. Also, if you like Indian food, they have one of the world's best Indian restaurants called Bukhara. You will be dead tired from the flight, so don't stay in your hotel room sleeping all the time. Go out and jump in a taxi and go see something every chance you get. Just take your hotel card with you and the taxi can always get you back there by the address on the card. No chinese language needed. Also get a 1.5 hour foot massage for $10.
Any street corner in Shanghai. You can't miss it. Just walk around. You can get any kind of massage you want. There are more massage parlors than anything in that city.
Agree with most everything above. I normally hate big cities but I love Shanghai. It is a very unique blend of China with a lot of European influence.
So true. One of my best friends is Chinese and he took me to several places to eat in Shanghai that tourists don't see. A couple of times, people looked at me funny and were clearly surprised I was there. At a "local" restaurant in Taipei one time, the waitress was concerned I would be offended at what he ordered off the menu.
Yes, the cheap little stores are the best. I get so sick of big restaurants when I am in China. I love those little dumpling and noodle eateries.
